NEW YORK — The Blue Jays are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball.

And they’re starting to look old and tired, losing 2-0 to the Yankees in a sluggish affair on Wednesday — being swept for the first time since a three game series against Tampa Bay, May 16-18.

It was Toronto’s third straight loss and sixth in their last eight, not exactly the look of a team ready to make some noise in the post-season, if they indeed even make it that far. And the bad news didn’t stop as catcher Russell Martin revealed after that he tweaked his left knee early in the game, though he is hopeful that he’ll be okay for the weekend series against the Boston Red Sox which begins Friday at the Rogers Centre. Martin said the knee hurt almost the entire game, especially when he hit. Dioner Navarro pinch-hit for Martin in the ninth.

“It’s that time of the year, nobody’s feeling 100 per cent,” said Martin. “I’m a tough guy so I’m not really too worried about it. It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a while now. I’ve actually hit pretty well with my knee bugging me.”

Probably the most frustrating part of the loss for the Jays (77-62) and their fans is that were beat by a young, inexperienced pitcher.

On paper, it appeared as though Wednesday night’s game was tailor-made for the Jays to break out of their slump. New York’s starting pitcher, 25-year-old right-hander Bryan Mitchell, did not exactly take the mound with a ton of pedigree. The game marked Mitchell’s season debut with the Yanks (73-65) , after going 0-1 with a 4.29 ERA in six minor league starts this season. Mitchell was only recalled from Triple A Scranton on Tuesday. He appeared in 20 games for the Yankees in 2015, going 0-2 with a 6.37 ERA. Yet time and again on Wednesday night, he stymied the struggling Jays. Mitchell, who picked up the win, was pulled in the sixth for Luis Severino with a 2-0 lead after giving up a lead-off double to Devon Travis. Severino had a 1-2-3 inning.

“It’s almost like (Chad) Green the last time when they shut us down,” said Jays manager John Gibbons. “Young guys with good arms, get a couple of innings under their belt, they gain some confidence.”

The Jays again had trouble bringing runners home, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Starter Marcus Stroman (9-7) took the loss. Heading into Wednesday’s start, Stroman was 5-1 in six career starts against the Yankees, with a 2.39 ERA and 26 strikeouts. He had won five straight against New York. His outing Wednesday wasn’t a disaster, though he gave up two runs, both in the third inning, before being pulled after five. Stroman gave up seven hits, struck out eight and only walked one. One run came via a home run by Yanks second baseman Starlin Castro, his 20th of the season.

“I felt pretty good,” said Stroman. “But at end of the day I just didn’t make the pitches when I felt like I needed. At certain points I did pitch out of trouble, but kind of when I needed it, I felt like it wasn’t there.”

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

The Jays return to Toronto a tired team, having fallen a game behind the Boston Red Sox (78-61), but nobody in the clubhouse believes that this is the start of a lingering downfall, though Gibbons said a day off Thursday will help as his physically battered club.

“We had a tough series,” said Martin. “We put it behind us, keep moving forward. Got a lot of baseball ahead, lot of games left, we’re right in it, we just need a big play or big hit to get us going in the right direction. But you’re not going to see any panic from me. I believe in my team. We’re not too worried about this series. Obviously it would have been nice to win a game, but it won’t keep us down.

“We’re ready, we know what we have to accomplish, we know what we have to do over this next month and we’re up for the task,” added Stroman. “Every single guy in this clubhouse is committed and motivated. We’re excited to have this off day, kind of regroup and get right back out there on Friday.”

The Yankees scored all their runs in the third inning with two outs, when Castro hit a 1-1 offering over the wall in left, a solo homer. Didi Gregorious then hit a double to left, Mark Teixeira walked and DH Brian McCann smacked a single to right to score Gregorious, making the score 2-0. Troy Tulowitzki recorded a pair of doubles for Toronto.